Advice on setting up a website

[cardsbykatie]

Please can anyone give me some advice. I have recently started making cards and invitations and I am thinking about setting up a website. Does anyone know of any cheap and easy ways to do this? I'm good with comptuers but have never delved into this area!!

Any advice gratefully recieved!

Thanks,

Katie

[incywincy]

For cheap and easy I would go Mrsite. It's so easy to work with and is ideal for little crafty websites.
There is the basic option which I have (about 32 a year i think?), plus you can upgarde your shopping cart and bits to make it better.

Or another option here http://www.penguinshops.com/index.php
they will do the design side for you, then you just have to add your items to the shop.

hth

[Tip Top]

I have a Mr Site. Which I have found easy to use (but not if you have AOL - be warned!) and there are the odd moments that it has baffled me, but you get used to it. Easy to add items and also to move stuff around and link pages. Its cheap and cheerful and gets you going.

Buy from Amazon if you are going to go for it as I think its cheaper (it was when I got mine in July - £17!)

You also get your domain name with it, so have a think about what you want and see if its available (just type it in to your browser) and see if there is anything similar already out there that may detract from what you are trying to do.

Good luck!!:D

[Katianne]

I have a Mr Site. Which I have found easy to use (but not if you have AOL - be warned!) :D

I am with AOL and was going to buy Mr Site - is this not a good idea then?

[cardsbykatie]

Thanks for the information. I have bought a Mrsite and am currently spending lots of time playinga rpind with itb eofre it goes live. Annoying I boguht it before i saw the tip about Amazon. It is £10 cheaper on Amazon! Hey ho!

I'll be asking advice once I've got it finished!!

Katie

[Tip Top]

I am with AOL and was going to buy Mr Site - is this not a good idea then?


Nope! We were with AOL and I'd spend ages doing stuff on my site and then it would all go. And I'd never be able to add pics. Tried doing it all at work and it worked first time with no problems!

Jules has the same problem too.

We are now with BT and all is fine!:D

If you can do your website via another internet connection - work or parents then it is fine, but I was soooo fustrated with AOL, something to do with something clashing.....:mad:

[Blooming Felt]

Using Mr Site with AOL is a pain, but I found that if you updated it through internet explorer rather than AOL, then it was all absolutely fine.

Having said that I've bought a new website from ekmpowershop and it's soooooo much better. Their search engine optimisation and submission is great and since I went live last Friday I've had around 20 orders with 3 today - in the year that I had my Mr Site website I had 5 orders all year. If you want lots of sales through a Mr Site website you have to work REALLY hard on keywords etc and might even consider using google adwords for a while

[Littlegems_cm]

Hi Sarah,

Greata dvice here, I don't suppose you can tell me what sort of costs are associated with this one?


Having said that I've bought a new website from ekmpowershop and it's soooooo much better. Their search engine optimisation and submission is great

Thanks
Caroline

[Blooming Felt]

Hi Caroline

EKM charge £50 + VAT for one of their standard shops and anywhere between £175 and £500 for a bespoke/customised shop. I asked them to copy my Mr Site website design and it cost me £175 + VAT. Hosting is £19.99 + VAT a month which I was a bit concerned about to start off with, but I've been getting lots of orders so am not too worried now.

Their website is www.ekmpowershop.co.uk (http://www.ekmpowershop.co.uk) and they also have a members forum www.ekmcommunity.co.uk (http://www.ekmcommunity.co.uk) which is great because you don't have to keep pestering ekm support if you've got a problem - there is usually someone on the forum who can help you out.

if you need any other info, just shout !!

[MrSwirl]

Hi Caroline

EKM charge £50 + VAT for one of their standard shops and anywhere between £175 and £500 for a bespoke/customised shop. I asked them to copy my Mr Site website design and it cost me £175 + VAT. Hosting is £19.99 + VAT a month which I was a bit concerned about to start off with, but I've been getting lots of orders so am not too worried now.

Their website is www.ekmpowershop.co.uk (http://www.ekmpowershop.co.uk) and they also have a members forum www.ekmcommunity.co.uk (http://www.ekmcommunity.co.uk) which is great because you don't have to keep pestering ekm support if you've got a problem - there is usually someone on the forum who can help you out.

if you need any other info, just shout !!

At £23 a month for hosting, I hope you are selling tonnes!!!

If you have a one year hosting plan, it may be worth looking after about 9 or 10 months elsewhere and moving it over. I pay $7 a month for my multitude of websites, and can't imagine that you are getting any more from your hosting than I do.

[virgovee]

Google Esty, its an online handmade shop kinda of in the style of ebay, although no bidding, it is instant and it has great results.